Eighteen
by Dior Crystal
Summary: In an attempt to distract Tamaki from following Haruhi on her date, Kyoya suggests that they see a fortune teller. There, the fortune teller tells Kyoya something surprising about his love life. AU. KyoTama. Trade with susikicks.


Long, wavy blonde hair cascading down smooth shoulders, a pair of beautiful violet eyes and fair skin. A tall, slim figure clothed in a pink, flowy dress that ended right below the knees... The person in front of him was the very definition of beauty. Beautiful, elegant, graceful and simply radiating with an aura of confidence; the sort of person that would capture the attention of everyone in the room. At first glance, this person could be regarded as perfect. The only problem?

The person in front of him was male.

"How do I look?" the blonde male said as he adjusted the equally blonde wig on his head. "Do you think Haruhi will recognize me?"

Without even looking up from the book that he was reading, Kyoya answered with disinterest, "You look like a man in a dress."

"Mommy, don't be mean!" the blonde exclaimed, clearly upset. When Kyoya continued to ignore him, he pouted and huffed, crossing his arms across his chest as he did so. "It's not like I'm doing this for fun, you know. This is for our daughter. And as her father, I feel the need to protect her."

"... By stalking her?"

"Eh? No, not stalking! By keeping an eye on her from a distance." He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror, contemplating whether he should wear makeup or not to complete his "disguise". Deciding not to, the blonde put the lipstick back on the dressing table. He made a face, grumbling, "I can't believe that our dear Haruhi agreed to go out on a date with that Hikaru! She doesn't even know him that well. He could well be a rapist."

"They're classmates," Kyoya supplied, turning another page in his book. He was tempted to say that "keeping an eye on her from a distance" was counted as stalking, but decided not to agitate the blonde.

"That doesn't mean that she knows him well!"

"They've known each other since they were in kindergarten," Kyoya deadpanned.

The blonde blinked in surprise. "Really? I didn't know that. How old were they-" he was about to say more on the subject, but then caught himself. He puffed up indignantly. "I happen to know some things about Hikaru Hitachiin that even Haruhi doesn't know. Why, just yesterday I saw him in a lip lock with some girl other than our daughter!" he ranted. "Does he really think that he can get away with cheating on our sweet child? There is no way that I'm going to let Haruhi cry because of that hentai-"

"The one who was in a lip lock, was Kaoru Hitachiin, Hikaru's twin brother." Kyoya closed the book that he was reading with a sigh. There was no way he would be able to read it anyway if the blonde was going to keep on ranting like this. "Anything else that you would like to share, Tamaki?"

Tamaki bit his bottom lip. He looked like he wanted to reassert his case on how Hikaru Hitachiin was a molester who wanted to do inappropriate things to their daughter, Haruhi Fujioka, but found that he had nothing. All of the facts that Kyoya had presented to him could not be argued with. "Well," he said, turning back to look at his reflection in the mirror. He began straightening out the dress that he was wearing. "I'm still going to keep an eye on Haruhi when she's out on her date with Hikaru anyway. You can't be too careful."

Kyoya Ootori placed the book that he was reading onto the table. Really, now, he still wanted to check on Haruhi? But then again, he should have expected this. It was Tamaki, after all.

Kyoya chuckled as he watched Tamaki fidget with the pink dress, trying to tie the sash around his waist properly.

At the mere age of seven, he met a blonde boy of the same age in school. That boy's name was Tamaki Suoh.

Bubbly and at times, clingy, Kyoya found the young Suoh to be a pain at first due to their contrasting personalities. Kyoya was quiet whereas Tamaki was loud. Kyoya was calm and Tamaki usually got easily excited. Kyoya could be quite dismissive towards people whereas Tamaki was warm. Indeed, the start of their friendship was a rocky one. Or on Kyoya's side, at least.

By the age of eight, Kyoya knew that he absolutely hated the young Suoh, but somehow over the years, somewhere along the lines of his finding Tamaki and his enthusiasm absolutely irritating, he learned to tolerate the blonde, then accept, and finally, come to find Tamaki's child-like qualities as endearing. Not that he'd ever tell Tamaki that, of course. The blonde would have a field day if he knew, and Kyoya was not sure if he would be able to handle that.

By the age of twelve, they learned to understand each other and became best friends. And at the age of seventeen, they made a new friend in the form of Haruhi Fujioka, who Tamaki regarded as his "daughter". And that was how Tamaki came to calling himself "Daddy" and Kyoya as "Mommy". At first, Kyoya thought that Suoh had a crush on Haruhi. Who would not make such a conclusion? Tamaki always hugged Fujioka whenever he had the chance and he would always fuss over her over every little thing, much to Haruhi's chagrin. But Kyoya was mistaken; the blonde did not have a crush on her. Tamaki had even cried out in alarm that it was "incest" and refused to entertain the idea when Kyoya presented his view to him. Somehow, this piece of knowledge made him feel a little happier, and he was able to sleep soundly at night.

By the time Tamaki was done getting ready, Kyoya was not sure whether he wanted to be seen in public with Tamaki, best friend or not. He looked so feminine, it was scary.

"Well, then! I'm ready. Now it's off to the amusement park to check on our daughter. Come on, Mommy!" Tamaki said, all pumped up. When Kyoya did not move from his seat, Tamaki whined, "Come on, Mommy. You promised." He held out his hand, prompting Kyoya to take it. "Please?"

Kyoya pursed his lips. Haruhi owed him. Big time. He took Tamaki's hand.

* * *

"Now, where do you think Haruhi and Hikaru are?" Tamaki wondered. "I could have sworn that I saw them around here just now."

"It must have been your imagination. I don't see them anywhere around here," Kyoya said dismissively. Spotting another game stand, he said, "Let's try out that game. It looks interesting."

Tamaki's eyes brightened. "Oohh, another game? That one looks like fun!"

For the entire day today since they had arrived at the amusement park that morning, Kyoya had been trying to distract Tamaki from trying to look for Haruhi by making him participate in the games and rides that were available there. Tamaki was only happy to play along since he rarely got to do such things with Kyoya, but as soon as they finished each game, his mind would return to wondering about his "daughter", and Kyoya would have to repeat the whole process of distracting him all over again. It was tiring, but it had to be done. After all, he had promised that he would do this.

The raven haired teen wiped his sweaty brow with a handkerchief. He had been walking around a lot today, and while the games were quite fun, some of them were quite tiring. There was a lot of people in the amusement park today and he saw quite a few familiar faces. It seemed like most of their schoolmates had chosen to hang out here for the day.

Kyoya watched as Tamaki tried to throw the ring that he was holding onto the poles in front of him. Each time he threw one ring, he missed the target. Whenever this happened, the blonde would cry out in frustration and would attempt to hit the target again. After this happened several times, Tamaki gave up and began to sulk. "This game is rigged." He pouted.

Amused, Kyoya decided to give it a go. After paying the man, he took one of the rings provided, took aim, and threw it.

Tamaki laughed. "Hah! If I can't get it, there's no way you-"

It landed perfectly, the ring going right through one of the poles.

"EHH??" Violet eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He looked at Kyoya incredulously. "How did you do that, Kyoya??"

"Congratulations! Here is your prize!" said the man who owned the stand. He handed a teddy bear to Kyoya, and winked at him. "You can give it to your girlfriend there."

Girlfriend? Kyoya raised an eyebrow. He looked at Tamaki, who was still very much dressed like a female, pink dress and all. Oh, right. He must have been referring to Tamaki.

"Here you go, you can have this," Kyoya said, presenting the teddy bear to Tamaki. "It'll make a nice companion for your Kuma-chan."

"Wha-" Tamaki said, his face red from embarrassment. "No, I can't accept that! You've given me so much today!" And it was true. Tamaki's arms were laden with the prizes that Kyoya had won for him. Not that he minded, but he felt that it was unfair to Kyoya since Kyoya did not have any for himself. "Besides, it's your birthday tomorrow! I shouldn't be the one getting these."

Kyoya waved a hand in front of Tamaki dismissively. "Well, that's that, isn't it? My birthday is tomorrow, not today." He pressed the teddy bear into Tamaki's hands. "Here. It can be Kuma-chan's new friend."

Tamaki looked at the teddy bear, its shiny button eyes staring right back at him. It was cute. Touched, he hugged it. "Thank you, Kyoya!" he said happily, beaming at his best friend as he did so.

The raven haired teen could feel a smile begin to blossom on his lips. Really. Suoh was such an interesting individual. He was about to say something when he caught sight of Haruhi and Hikaru walking together a few feet away. Kyoya promptly grabbed Tamaki's arm and dragged him towards the House of Mirrors, surprising the blonde.

"Ah, K-Kyoya!" Tamaki cried, a bewildered expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Let's go check out the House of Mirrors," Kyoya said hastily.

A few feet away, Haruhi and Hikaru were looking at the food stalls. It was pretty tiring walking around under the hot sun and playing all of the games available there, so they were now quite hungry. Hikaru nudged Haruhi when he caught sight of Kyoya dragging a pretty blonde girl towards the House of Mirrors with him. Though the girl was obviously female in his eyes, he could not help being reminded of someone. And that "someone" being Haruhi's self-appointed protective "father", Tamaki Suoh. From his observation, wherever Kyoya Ootori was, Tamaki Suoh was not too far off. Those two were practically joined at the hip.

"Uhh... Haruhi?" Hikaru said tentatively.

"Yes?" Haruhi said absently as she tried to decide whether she wanted a hot dog or a burger. Her stomach was rumbling. She needed something to eat.

"Do you think it's okay for us to go out like this? I just saw Kyoya, and you know how Tamaki is always with him and..." Hikaru trailed off.

"Don't worry about that. Kyoya has everything taken care of." Finally deciding on what she wanted, she spoke to the man, "One hot dog, please."

"Kyoya??" the red headed teen said incredulously. "What does he have to do with this?"

After paying the man, Haruhi looked up at him then, her brown eyes soft and open. "Because I asked him to help distract Tamaki for the entire day today since I knew Tamaki would overreact as usual."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think that that guy would help others when there's nothing in it for him?"

"Oh, Kyoya can be surprisingly thoughtful at times," she said easily. "I know he'll come through."

"If you say so..." he said doubtfully.

Haruhi only smiled.

* * *

"Haha! Here I am, Kyoya!"

"What?" Kyoya accidentally bumped into a mirror, thinking that the reflection in it was Tamaki. "Ow!"

Rubbing his nose, Kyoya could feel a headache coming on. He should not have agreed to help Haruhi in distracting Tamaki. A sigh. This was going to be a long day.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki called out, waving at him, his expression bright and violet eyes twinkling. He looked like he was having a good time.

But, if it meant that he could see Tamaki being happy like this and enjoying himself, Kyoya supposed that this was not too bad.

* * *

"I'm such a horrible father," Tamaki mourned.

"And why is that?" Kyoya said lightly, though he already knew the answer.

It was already night time and the amusement park was alive with lights and the bustling of people. Even though it was late, it did not seem to deter people from coming. A lot of families could be seen walking around, participating in games or going on rides, and chatting to each other in loud voices, the cheerfulness in their voices evident. Looking at Tamaki, who was sulking quite amusingly in his usual way, Kyoya could not help noticing the difference. Tamaki was pouting again and was sitting in a corner, his head hung low. He was used to this sort of behaviour from the blonde; it was not unusual for the blonde to sit in an "emo corner" and start sulking.

While surveying his surroundings quietly and sipping the orange juice that he had just bought, a purple coloured tent caught Kyoya's eye. The tent was quite attractive, and some may even say gaudy, what with the golden, shimmery stars splashed upon a sea of royal purple. In front of the tent stood a sign. It said "Lady Celeste the Fortune Teller". Hmm. An idea immediately came to the raven haired teen's mind.

"Tamaki," Kyoya said to the still sulking teen. "There's a fortune teller here. Would you like to go visit her?"

"Fortune teller? What good will that do?" the blonde sniffled. "Our daughter is probably being molested at this very moment and I'm not doing anything to stop it."

Oh, no. Not this again.

Thinking fast, Kyoya supplied, "Well, if you see Lady Celeste, she might tell you about what's happening to Haruhi."

He saw Tamaki's back stiffen. "R-really?"

After exhaling a breath that he had been holding in, Kyoya answered, "Yes."

"Ack!" So quickly that Kyoya did not realize when it happened, he found himself being dragged to Lady Celeste's tent by an enthusiastic Tamaki Suoh, the blonde having completely forgotten about sulking a few seconds ago. He felt like his arm was being yanked out of its socket.

Within mere moments, Kyoya found himself in the fortune teller's tent, the blonde still holding onto his hand. Tamaki did not seem to notice this, though. He was too much in awe over the place. He kept "ooh"-ing and "ahh"-ing whenever he caught sight of a particularly interesting item. Some of the items that he was fascinated with were the crystal ball, voodoo dolls (there only for show, no doubt) and the decorations. Realizing that the blonde's fingers were intertwined with his loosely, Kyoya immediately pulled his hand away and shoved it into his pocket, looking away from his friend, his face growing warm. Tamaki did not seem to mind; his hand fell to his side without his noticing.

"Welcome," said a woman who sat in the middle of the tent with a crystal ball on the table in front of her. She was a pleasant looking woman with brown hair and bright green eyes, dressed in typical gypsy clothes. She smiled warmly at them. "Come, sit." She gestured at the two empty chairs. "I have been waiting for you."

No doubt something that she said for show as well. However, this did not seem to occur to the young Suoh. If anything, it only made Tamaki beam in excitement. Kyoya did not say anything, though, so he sat quietly next to Tamaki in front of the woman he supposed was Lady Celeste. "Oh, my, this seems so authentic!" Kyoya heard Tamaki say under his breath.

"As you have probably guessed, I am Lady Celeste. You want your fortune told, I take it?" she asked.

Tamaki nodded fervently.

While the woman gazed into the crystal ball and told Tamaki his fortune, Kyoya's mind began to wander. He was not very interested in this sort of thing, nor did he believe it. Where was Haruhi right now? Were they still in the amusement park or have they gone off for dinner somewhere, or gone home already? All he knew that they had better enjoyed their date or Kyoya would have done this nothing, though he did have a very good time spending the day with Tamaki. Clenching his fists on his lap, he felt his face grow warm once more.

Looking up, the woman was telling Tamaki his fortune. The blonde's violet eyes were wide as he listened to her every word. The things that she was telling him were vague and some of those standard lines that fortune tellers often used like "You will chance upon good fortune soon" and such, and yet Tamaki paid rapt attention. She did not say anything about Haruhi at all, but it seemed that Tamaki had completely forgotten about that. Even at the age of eighteen, Tamaki really was innocent; a trait that Kyoya wished would remain always. If he told Tamaki that he thought what the fortune teller told him was nonsense, he would never hear the end of it from the blonde.

Once Lady Celeste was done telling Tamaki his fortune, Kyoya stood up, making to leave, only to be pulled down by Tamaki again.

"What?" he said, irritated.

"Now it's your turn to have your fortune told!" Tamaki said cheerfully.

"But I don't want-"

The blonde gave him a puppy dog look. "Please, Mommy?"

Damn it. Tamaki knew that Kyoya could not say no to that face. Biting the inside of his cheek, Kyoya turned back to look at Lady Celeste, who continued to smile pleasantly at him. "Alright then. Can you please tell me my fortune, Lady Celeste?" Kyoya said through gritted teeth, the smile on his lips strained.

"Of course." Green eyes immediately fell upon the crystal ball and she began gazing at it in concentration, as though trying to make out the images through the swirling fog in the ball. She must have found something because she suddenly widened her eyes. Kyoya expected her to make a show by gasping and waving her arms around dramatically, but instead, he was mildly surprised when she smiled warmly at him instead, the smile reaching her eyes.

"... Yes?" Kyoya had to restrain himself from keeping the obvious disbelief on the topic in his voice.

"You, my child," she said. "Are going to chance upon good fortune on your birthday."

Now, why did that line not surprise him at all?

This line, however, had a completely different effect on Suoh. Tamaki gasped. He nudged Kyoya, who merely grunted. "Isn't this exciting? Your birthday is tomorrow!" Leaning forward eagerly, Tamaki asked, "What's going to happen to Kyoya on his birthday?"

Tilting her head so that some brown hair fell across green eyes, she answered, her voice serene, "On his birthday, Kyoya is going to find out who his heart belongs to."

Another clichéd line.

Tamaki's mouth opened to form an "O". He looked at Kyoya, his eyes wide. "Mommy, I didn't know that you're in love!"

Kyoya blinked. "I'm not," he answered, though he did not sound very convincing.

The blonde kept on interrogating Lady Celeste about Kyoya's fortune until finally, the green eyed woman shook her head, brown tresses slapping her cheeks lightly, stating that that was all she knew. Upon receiving that answer, Tamaki sat back in his chair in disappointment, but he did not press her with anymore questions. After paying the woman, Kyoya left the tent with a rather quiet Tamaki.

"What's wrong with you?" A quiet Tamaki was not common.

"Ah?" Violet eyes snapped to attention. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering who it is that you're in love with." Tamaki grinned then, his serious expression from moments before gone. "That would be interesting to see. I've never seen Kyoya in love before."

"Hmm." Choosing not to make a comment on that, Kyoya changed the subject. "It's dinner time. Want to go and eat?"

Looking slightly taken aback by Kyoya's question, it took Tamaki awhile to regain his composure. When he did, he smiled brightly. "Sure!"

* * *

"So... Who do you think it is that you're in love with?"

"I don't know, Tamaki. For all we know, she was just spouting nonsense."

"No, that can't be it," Tamaki said, horrified at the idea. "She's a _fortune teller_. So of course what she said is true!"

Kyoya groaned inwardly. He should have known that Tamaki would not let this sort of thing go. The blonde had been chattering on and on about it since they got back from dinner. Even after Tamaki had showered and changed into pyjamas, he did not stop questioning Kyoya. He had even listed out a list of possible females that Kyoya could be in love with. So far, Kyoya answered "no" to all of the names of the girls that Tamaki had presented to him. It came to no surprise that the first girl's name that Tamaki said was "Haruhi", to which Kyoya answered with a firm "No".

Even though Tamaki's eyes were heavy with sleep, the blonde kept on talking. Used to this sort of behaviour, Kyoya answered all of his questions calmly, though he was beginning to feel irritated. Glancing at the clock, Kyoya saw that it was 11:50 PM - no wonder he was feeling sleepy. Since Tamaki was sleeping over at his house, he was wearing pyjamas as well. The violet eyed teen had practically invited himself to sleepover at Kyoya's house because he said he wanted to be the first to wish him "Happy Birthday" the next morning. Yawning, Kyoya nudged the blonde who was already nodding off to sleep next to him, and spoke.

"I think you've stayed up long enough, Tamaki."

"Nnn..." Tamaki made a whining noise, snuggling closer to Kyoya, his head on the raven haired teen's shoulder. "But I still haven't found out who Mommy loves yet." He hugged Kyoya's arm, nuzzling his shoulder affectionately.

Really, now. Tamaki was like a child at times. Sighing, Kyoya removed his arm from Tamaki's grasp and was about to tell the teen to go to sleep when he saw that Tamaki had already just done that. The blonde was completely worn out.

Nice.

"Wake up."

Poke.

"Tamaki."

Another poke in the shoulder.

No response. The blonde really was asleep. Clicking his tongue, Kyoya was really tempted to leave Tamaki there on the couch, but decided against it. It would not be comfortable for him to sleep there. Besides, Tamaki looked so peaceful that it would be a shame to wake him up.

"You really are hopeless, you know," Kyoya chided the now sleeping Tamaki. Not that he expected a response from him.

Standing up, he bent down to carry Tamaki, carefully wrapping his arms around the back of violet eyed teen's knees and shoulders. Tamaki's head fell against his chest and the blonde instinctively moved closer to that warmth. Luckily, the guest room was not too far off so it did not take Kyoya long to carry the blonde all the way to the room and setting the sleeping male onto the bed gently. Pulling up the comforter up to Tamaki's chest, Kyoya heard Tamaki mumble incoherently before hugging the teddy bear that Kyoya had won for him earlier that day; Kyoya had placed the stuffed toy there as soon as they returned home. It sounded like he was trying to say "Kyoya". He must not be fully asleep yet.

Just like a child.

Knowing exactly what that meant, Kyoya sat down at the edge of the bed, pushing back blonde hair that fell across closed violet eyes. Doing something like this was not uncommon for Kyoya. He was used to having Tamaki ask him to stay by his side till he was fully asleep. The blonde said that it was because he did not like feeling alone. At first, Kyoya chided Tamaki for that, but as the years went by, he came to accept this, just like he came to accept Tamaki as his best friend.

How long have they been best friends?

Nearly eleven years. That was a pretty long time.

Kyoya even remembered the times when he used to wish that Tamaki would go away. He had thought that Tamaki was getting too close too soon. And look at where they were now. Now, they were practically inseparable. And though Kyoya did not show it as openly as Tamaki did, he cared for Tamaki and the blonde held a special place in his life.

Kyoya did not even realise that he had been gazing at Tamaki's sleeping face with his hand pressed against the side of the blonde's cheek till the clock struck 12, signalling that it was midnight. Startled, brown eyes looked up at the clock. The sound of the clock's chiming filled the entire room.

Feeling something warm touch his hand, Kyoya looked back at the supposedly sleeping blonde who was holding Kyoya's hand, keeping it in place against his cheek. Tamaki Suoh opened his eyes, and smiled gently at him. A smile that struck something in Kyoya's heart and made it beat faster. Something that was not unlike a blush spread across the raven haired teen's cheeks. "Happy birthday, Kyoya," Tamaki whispered.

At the age of eighteen, right on his birthday, Kyoya Ootori realised that all this time, throughout their entire friendship, he had been in love.

"Thank you, Tamaki." A smile lifted at the edge of his lips. He did not know when did it happen or how his feelings had changed, but now he knew. It was all too clear now. And this discovery made his heart soar. "Now, go to sleep. It's late."

"Mmhmm," Tamaki agreed, though he did not let go of Kyoya's hand.

Sighing once more, Kyoya pushed back Tamaki's hair again in an almost affectionate manner.

He, Kyoya Ootori, was in love with his best friend, Tamaki Suoh.

"Good night, Tamaki."

* * *

**DIOR CRYSTAL:** There, my first Ouran fic. Done as a trade with susikicks, who requested for a shounen-ai KyoTama fic, on DA. I've no idea how I've done, but I hope you like it, susi. :3 Reviews are appreciated.


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